【Device Papers】Effect of 5 MeV proton irradiation on electrical and trap characteristics of β-Ga₂O₃ power diode

      Researchers from the ShanghaiTech University have published a dissertation titled "Effect of 5 MeV proton irradiation on electrical and trap characteristics of β-Ga₂O₃ power diode" in Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing.

Abstract

      In this study, impact of 5 MeV proton irradiation with radiation fluence of 10¹³ cm⁻² on β-Ga₂O₃ power diode is investigated by a β-Ga₂O₃ Schottky barrier diode (SBD). Via temperature-dependent measurements, carrier removal rate R_C is determined to be 7.26 × 10² cm⁻¹ at 300 K. Meanwhile, the threshold voltage (V_on) and ideality factor (n) almost remain stable after proton irradiation. A close-to-unity n was observed for a wide temperature range indicating near-ideal Schottky characteristics. Dynamic degradation was observed at 300K, but was greatly suppressed at a low temperature of 100K. Meanwhile, two more bulk traps are discovered in proton irradiated β-Ga₂O₃ SBD by deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS). The larger corrected trap concentration (N_Ta) in proton irradiated β-Ga₂O₃ SBD was regarded as the reason behind slightly worsened dynamic on-resistance instability at 300 K. Furthermore, lower low frequency noise is revealed for proton irradiated device at room temperature and cryogenic temperature. The study demonstrates the competitive irradiation hardness of β-Ga₂O₃ power diodes and paves a solid path for the deployment of β-Ga₂O₃ in space.

DOI：

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mssp.2024.109121